NEW YORK Women's specialty retailer Talbots this week breaks a campaign that reinforces its position as a resource for classic apparel for boomer females by asking the question, "What kind of classic are you?"
The effort, via Arnold in Boston, includes television, print, Internet and a sweepstakes that dangles a $1,000 wardrobe each season for a year.
Talbots' employees play a big role in a leg of the campaign that stresses customer service. Many of its more than 11,000 associates nationwide are featured in newspaper ads and in a 170-page catalog, handled in-house, with photos, their names, stores and length of time with the company.
The "What kind of classic are you?" TV spot seeks to connect with boomer females through a story of four women who gather for a reunion weekend to reminisce and share stories, with Talbots' wardrobes featured throughout. The spot will air on early-morning programs including The Today Show and Good Morning America and prime-time fare such as CSI. Print will run March through May, with new executions each month, in glossy lifestyle magazines.
"Boomers are a growing segment, they have much more disposable income than other segments of the population and they live very differently than a 50 year old did in the past," said Andrea McKenna, svp of marketing and catalog development at Talbots, Hingham, Mass. "We want her to know we have clothing for her lifestyle and her needs. We want to be top of mind [for] baby boomers."
Talbots spent nearly $25 million on ads in 2005, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Talbots operates 1,084 stores nationwide.